Tax on the value of real property, including land, buildings and other improvements, owned by a taxpayer. Amount of real property tax owed depends on value of their property and the local tax rate. For taxing purposes, property values are determined by an assessment process conducted by county government.

The more than 100,000 parcels in Monroe County are assessed at 25 percent of their perceived actual market value. A home assessed at $25,000 has a market value of $100,000. All pre-existing homes and buildings in the county were last reassessed in 1988 to arrive at common comparison values. Structures and improvements completed since then are assessed based on the 1988 reassessment.

School districts, townships, boroughs, libraries and county government use millage to arrive at a tax rate. Each mill represents $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value. So a school district with a tax rate of 95 mills, or $95 per $1,000 of assessment, will charge the owner of a $100,000 home assessed at $25,000, a school tax bill of $2,375. (25,000 x 0.095 mills.)

Levied on residents’ earned income, such as wages, salaries or other reimbursement for work. Unearned income, including interest, dividends, pensions and social security are exempt from the tax.

Often referred to as “the Berkheimer tax” after the private collection agency hired by many political subdivisions to collect it, although some townships hire a private individual or another tax collection agency to do the job.

Stroudsburg Area, East Stroudsburg Area, Pocono Mountain and Pleasant Valley school districts in Monroe County assess the EIT at the rate of 1 percent of earned income and split the revenue.

A tax on the “privilege” of working within the geographic boundaries of a municipality. Everyone employed in the borough or township must pay the $10 annual levy, regardless of where they live.

It is assessed on those who work in the boroughs of Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg, and the townships of Coolbaugh, Hamilton, Jackson, Middle Smithfield, Smithfield and Stroud. Jackson Township repealed its occupational privilege tax this year.

Levied on admissions prices to places of amusement, entertainment and recreation. This includes craft shows, bowling alleys, golf courses, ski facilities or county fairs.

In this area, Tunkhannock Township charges a 3 percent amusement tax on admissions to Pocono Raceway that generates about $300,000 annually, or more than a quarter of the township’s annual revenues. A 2002 law approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Mark Schweiker’s reduces those revenues by more than half, to $120,000.

Levied on the sale of real estate, at the rate of 2 percent of the property’s value, at the time of sale, with seller and owner jointly responsible for payment.

If the sale includes an “executory” construction contract to have a builder construct a home on a vacant site, as a condition of sale, then value of the construction contract as well as the current land value are taxable.

Half of the 2 percent tax, collected by Monroe County, goes to Pennsylvania and the other 1 percent is shared by school districts and the municipalities where property transactions take place.

A uniform “head tax” levied on all adults who live in a jurisdiction, regardless of individual income levels. The maximum levy in most jurisdictions is $10 annually.

Polk Township is the only Monroe County municipality to assess this tax, and assesses $5 per adult resident. Polk does exempt college students from paying the tax.

Has roots in 17th- and 18th-century England, when many occupations were created by grant or title and could be sold or transferred between individuals, much like real estate. Tax is levied on the value of residents’ occupations, as determined by the county assessors office.

For instance, a school bus driver may have an assessed value of $25, while that of a lawyer might be $300. Every individual within the same occupation pays the same rate, regardless of income. Some levy the occupation tax at the same flat rate for all occupations, in which case the maximum allowed by state law is $10 per person. There is no limit if this tax is levied as a distinct tax rate for each occupation.

Municipalities collect the tax from all residents, regardless of where those taxpayers work.

No municipalities in Monroe County collect this tax anymore, and Monroe County eliminated its occupation tax in 1982.

Occupational assessors are elected positions, technically still mandated by state law. But Pocono Township was the last municipality in the county to have an occupational assessor candidate appear on the ballot, a candidate who was elected to compile the now useless list of residents and their occupations. That person, who earned $42,000 over 14 years, resigned from the position in 1997, amid allegations that the occupational assessor continually supplied incorrect information and may have billed the county for duties never performed.

Similar to real property and occupation taxes, it is levied on the value of intangible property owned by residents. This includes mortgages, other interest bearing obligations and accounts, public loans and corporate stocks.

Sometimes called an honesty tax, since the only way a county knows the value of a taxpayer’s personal property is if the taxpayer is honest enough to report it. This tax isn’t assessed in Monroe County.

Assessed on coin-operated machines of amusement, including jukeboxes, pinball machines, video games and pool tables. The tax rate is set as a percentage of the price to activate the machine.

Levied on the gross receipts of local businesses, it’s also known as the business gross receipts tax, or business privilege tax.

It can be levied on wholesale and retail trade and restaurants, though the Local Tax Reform Act of 1988 prohibited the imposition of any new mercantile taxes. Jurisdictions still using the tax in 1988 were allowed to continue to levy it.

There are no taxing jurisdictions in Monroe County that impose this tax.